The Recreation and Conservation Office Salmon Recovery Board awarded various organizations in 29 counties across Washington state $18 million in grants to restore salmon habitat and conserve pristine areas.

San Juan County was not excluded, netting $307,000 for two restoration projects.

Friends of the San Juans was awarded $43,654 to restore a pocket beach along Orcas Island’s West Sound, so it can better function as spawning and rearing habitat for the fish that salmon eat.

In partnership with the landowner and Coastal Geologic Services, Friends will remove a large creosote and rock bulkhead, fill and re-grade the bank, and plant the slope with native plants. Removing the extensive toxic materials, as well as more than 530 ton of bank and beach rock and fill, will allow for sediment to flow and unbury spawning habitat for the fish that salmon eat.

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group was granted $263,616 and will use the funds to replace an undersized trough where West Beach Road crosses West Beach Creek on Orcas Island. The new culvert will be 14 feet in diameter and allow fish to enter the lower West Beach Creek system.

West Beach Creek once supported sea-run cutthroat trout that were fished recreationally, and the lower part of the creek contains rearing habitat suitable for juvenile Chinook salmon.

Chinook salmon are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act and are known to enter tributaries to feed and escape predators when they are rearing in saltwater.

San Juan County’s Public Works Department will contribute $380,000 to West Beach Creek project.